Let Love In
by AvrilBurkhart
Summary: Based on this prompt - "So, they double crossed you." Cora stated, smirking at the irony. "and now they have the compass…What are you going to do now?" Hook barely glanced at her, his mind focused instead on tracking the gutsy blonde. "I'm going to get my damn scarf back." - Killian Jones has had far worse things happen to him than being chained to a wall in a giant's castle.
1. Chapter One

**Title**: Let Love In

**Pairing**: Emma x Hook/Killian

**Summary**: Based on this prompt - "So, they double crossed you." Cora stated, smirking at the irony. "and now they have the compass…What are you going to do now?" Hook barely glanced at her, his mind focused instead on tracking the gutsy blonde. "I'm going to get my damn scarf back."

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing. I just wanted to show some love for my new OTP ;)

**Note**: I don't even remember the last time I wrote fan fiction. All I know is that has been a LONG time and nothing has really inspired me to write again until Captain Swan came along and made me feel like I needed to come out of hibernation to write something (hopefully good) for this ship that I have fallen in love with!

* * *

Killian Jones has had far worse things happen to him than being chained to a wall in a giant's castle. However he was grateful that the giant seemed to care less about his presence in the castle while he was trying to find a way out (along with a few pieces of treasure, of course). But what had bothered him about those hours that he spent there, picking the lock with his hooked hand, was that he was left there by a certain blonde haired princess. She had saved him from under the pile of rocks, then before he knew it, she had him chained up. She had bested him _twice_ now.

If it had been anyone else but Emma Swan, he would have been hunting them down just as he was hunting for his Crocodile, instead he found himself standing in the woods not too far from the giant's castle wondering if he should be tracking down the lovely ladies who stranded him here, or find Cora again and get to his Crocodile in Storybrooke some other way. The universe seemed to answer that troubling question for him.

"So, they double crossed you." Cora said with a smirk on her face from the irony of the situation. "Now they have the compass…What are you going to do now?"

Killian turned to face Cora, a smirk on his face as well to hide from her that he hadn't the faintest idea what he planned on doing now. As he walked over to her, he noticed something on the ground that did not belong and soon recognized just what it was. He knelt down to the ground and picked up the torn piece of what he knew was his scarf, the very scarf he wrapped around Emma's cut hand. _And wasted my rum on as well_, Killian thought. He rose to his feet again and glanced right past Cora and looked down at the ground instead where he could see the faint outline of the footprints from the ladies.

"I'm going to get my damn scarf back." Killian smiled.

* * *

The group had stopped for the night, Snow and Emma being the only two sitting around the fire that Mulan had built, Aurora was finally getting some more sleep as she rested her head on Snow's lap, and Mulan had been out in the woods gathering more firewood for the night. While Emma had still been _very slowly_ letting herself try to comprehend the idea that in fact the woman sitting next to her that looked barely any older than her was her mother, she had let herself sit in the awkward silence between them and stared into the crackling flames while subconsciously rubbing her bandaged hand.

"When did you hurt your hand?" Snow asked Emma finally, she had seen the bandage on her hand the whole journey through the forest that day but had not gotten a chance to ask until now.

Emma looked over at Snow puzzled, almost forgetting that she did in fact cut her hand today while climbing the beanstalk. "While I was climbing, it's fine." Emma said, hoping that Snow would drop the topic after that. But then again, if she truly was her mother, she knew that would not happen.

"Hook didn't do that to you, did he?" Snow asked. She wanted to be sure that pirate didn't lay a hand (or hook) on her daughter.

"No." Emma said all too quickly. She mentally scolded herself for letting that response leave her lips so fast.

Snow noticed in the campfire light now that it was in fact Hook's scarf that was around Emma's hand. She figured that if he had hurt Emma that he wouldn't have even taken the time to bandage it up. Despite how much she disapproved of the pirate that traveled with them earlier, she did wonder what had happened to Hook after all.

"Emma, what happened to Hook?" Snow asked.

"I don't wanna talk about it." Emma said and heard the sharp edge to her voice that she now too regretted. "I'm sorry I'm just…tired. I need to get some sleep." She said and faked a yawn. "Goodnight Mary Mar-Sno-" Emma stood up and looked down at Snow, not knowing quite what to call her. "Goodnight." She finally said and went off into the tent that Mulan had pitched, hoping that everyone would stop asking her about the stupid, charismatic, pirate that she left behind.

* * *

**Note (again):** Sorry this is so short! I plan on writing more to this, I just need to get back into the groove of writing again :3 I hope you guys like this and leave reviews so I know if I'm going in the right direction or not. Also sorry for no Captain Swan interaction yet but it will be coming soon! 3


	2. Chapter Two

The fire from the night before was nothing now but a pile of ashes and smoke. Emma had still felt slightly uneasy about stopping for the night considering not only what was out there in the woods, but _who_ else was out there in the woods by now. But Emma couldn't focus too much on that right now, all she could think about was how a compass and the ashes from the wardrobe she torched that Cora still had were going to get her back to Henry and Storybrooke.

"So, what's the plan? Cora still has the ashes and we have no idea where she is to go get them from her." Emma said to the group. Snow and Aurora appeared to be slightly puzzled by the new problem they had to face, but Mulan seemed to be already planning their attack in her head.

"More than likely, Cora will know by now that we have the compass, she's probably looking for us as we speak. If she comes to us we can get the ashes off of her then." Mulan stated in a matter of fact tone, there was no wavering or hint of question in her voice.

"We're going to have to be ready for her then. Cora is powerful and if she catches us even slightly off guard, she'll get the compass." Snow said.

"We'll be ready for her." Emma said, she already knew some of Cora's favorite tricks from the few encounters she had with her and she was going to brace herself for the worst.

"Does anyone else hear that?" Aurora asked as she couldn't help but hear the sounds of someone approaching them and the leaves crunching under their feet.

The group went silent and tried to listen for what Aurora was hearing, as soon as they heard the leaves and twigs crunching as well, Mulan, Emma, and Snow all readied their weapons. They waited for something to come into sight, everyone's eyes on a different part of the woods around them, each of them growing more anxious by the minute as the leaves and twigs kept breaking but no one was in sight. Finally, it sounded like whoever was around them was right on top of them, but still no one could be found. Emma was on the verge of calling out to see who was there, but just then, a doe crossed in front of her line of sight, leaves breaking under its hooves, and Emma relaxed.

"It's just a doe." Emma sighed as the rest of the group now relaxed, but the doe charged off into the woods at the sight of them.

"Well, I must say, you lovely ladies have grown far more paranoid from the last time we met." A new, but very familiar voice said. Emma, Snow, and Mulan all turned their weapons towards the voice and the slightest bit of shock crossed all of their faces when they saw Hook standing there with his usual smirk on his face.

* * *

Snow and Mulan kept their guard up and weapons aimed had Hook, but Emma didn't. She still didn't trust him, but she did seem to trust him enough to not feel the need to be ready to attack him.

"How did you find us?" Snow asked.

"Honestly, you weren't all that hard to track. Which was surprising, I thought you ladies would be a bit more careful with Cora out there." He said and slowly approached them, but that only seemed to put Mulan and Snow even more on edge. "What? You don't trust me? After everything I think it should be me not trusting any of you, especially after how I was left with the giant."

"You're right, you shouldn't trust us. You should probably leave." Mulan said, Hook smiled in return.

"Now, where would the fun be in that?" He asked and walked around Snow and Mulan, though they kept their guard up. Hook walked over towards Emma which put Snow on high alert as she moved closer to her daughter that seemed to be leaving herself unarmed which seemed strange to Snow. "You trust me Emma, don't you?"

Emma was taken off guard with this question, she couldn't even begin to think of a reason why Hook would ask her this after how she left him. She knew she wasn't leaving him there to rot with the giant, she knew he would get free, but she didn't think he would come after her again and start asking her if she trusted him. Emma almost hadn't noticed how close he had gotten to her, but Snow had, she was almost as close to Emma as Hook was to her. She could tell that Snow wanted to make him back off of her in the worst way, but had hesitated since Emma seemed to be hesitating herself.

"Then again, you're not one for trusting people, are you?" He asked with a slight edge to his voice, but the smirk was still in his voice, and his blue eyes were getting too close for Emma's comfort.

"That's close enough, Hook." Snow finally said, stopping the pirate in his tracks though he was only a few inches away from Emma now, and Emma seemed almost frozen in place.

"It would seem that there is more than just one person here that has an issue with trust." Hook said.

"Trust isn't handed out freely, it's earned." Snow said.

"So it would seem." Hook sighed. "Fine, I'll just let you ladies be then. Go about…whatever you were planning to do before." He said and slowly walked away from Emma who still stayed frozen in place. Hook had reached the edge of their camp where he looked back at them with a smile on his face. "Good day, ladies." He said.

Just as he was about to walk away, something had leapt out from behind one of the trees and grabbed Hook, putting a blade up to his neck. The person who had come out from behind the trees was _another_ Killian Jones.

* * *

Everyone now was frozen in place, but they knew now that one of the Hook's was not actually Hook, but Cora.

"Any day now one of you darlings could help me." said the Killian who was holding the knife up to the other Killian's throat.

"Help you? Its me they should be helping, you're the imposter!" The other Killian said as they struggled to get free. "A little help would be nice, Swan."

"Emma?" The other Killian asked as he held the struggling Killian tighter.

But in that moment, Emma was not the only one who did not know which Killian to believe. But if anyone knew Killian out of the group best, it would be Emma, and it would have to be her choice.

* * *

**Note:** All I can say is, thank god for Captain Swan fanmixes! I was so stumped as to how I was gonna get Killian back with the group and how to handle Cora, but eventually I thought of this and now Emma has to choose! I know that I want this story to end in Storybrooke with a (hopefully) cute ending, but I'm also trying to wait and see how the writers are going to send them back to Storybrooke, or at least get an idea about HOW they plan on doing that with some ashes and a compass. But, now at least you know that Captain Swan is coming in this story next, and Killian WILL eventually get his scarf back ;) ALSO, I wanted to ask and see if anybody knew when the winter hiatus is going to start, I know it's coming and I'm bracing myself for those weeks of no new OUAT, but I plan on writing some Captain Swan AU's/one-shots during that time to keep us all occupied so...if anyone knows, let me know!

P.S. I was gonna make this one big long chapter, but then I decided to split it in half. I'm pretty sure this one is still longer than the first chapter. And thank you for all your lovely reviews, I had a big smile on my face while I read all of them, they made my day and made me wanna write this story even more :3


	3. Chapter Three

Emma stood in front of the two Killian's, hoping that perhaps she could find a physical difference between them, but they looked exactly alike, they were even wearing the same clothes as one another. Emma knew that she had to find out somehow who they were, and only one thing came to mind that would set the real Killian apart from the Cora imposter.

"Alright Hook and…other Hook, whoever can answer this question, I'll believe you're the real Hook." Emma said and hoped that this would work. "What is my son's name?"

The Killian who was holding the knife appeared to be completely confused by this question, he was sure that despite Emma mentioning that she had a son more than once, she never said his name. The other Killian however, knew exactly what her son's name was said it with such unwavering confidence that the _real_ Killian almost felt bad for not knowing his name.

"Henry, of course." The other Killian said.

Right at that moment, both Emma and Mary Margret knew who was Cora and who was Killian. Shortly after giving her answer, Cora turned back into her normal self with a smile on her face while Killian kept the knife to her neck.

"Even after I offered to give you one more chance, you couldn't just stay away, could you?" Cora asked Killian.

"What can I say, 'pirate' and 'follow the rules' don't exactly belong in the same sentence together." Killian said.

"I must admit though Emma," Cora said, now facing the blonde. "For someone who tries so hard to keep those walls of yours up and keep people out, it didn't take very much effort on my part to make most of them crumble down, now did it? Just a few harsh words while wearing the pirates face and you looked just so…_broken_." Cora stated with a wicked grin. "So broken in fact that you didn't even realize when I took your precious compass from you."

Emma frantically began checking her jacket and realized that the compass was in fact gone now, Cora must have taken it from her when she was frozen in place. Cora took out the compass, keeping it just out of Killian's reach, almost to taunt Emma and the others with the fact of that she had outsmarted all of them.

"Now, if you all don't mind, I have a daughter and a grandson to go pay a visit to." Cora said as she put the compass away.

With a flick of her wrist, Killian went sailing backwards into one of the trees, the tree cracking when he hit it. Snow sent one of her arrows sailing right towards Cora, but she had managed to catch the arrow and snap it in half in one swift motion before her eyes landed on Emma again.

"I'll tell Henry that his mother sends her best." Cora said as she then sent Emma flying back as well, almost landing right on the still smoldering pile of ashes from the fire last night.

Cora was turning to leave when Mulan came charging towards her, taking her by surprise and landing on the ground momentarily next to Killian. Killian saw the compass shinning on the ground in the sunlight, and Cora had become so overwhelmed with rage towards the girl who had managed to surprise her, that she rose to her feet without even noticing the compass. Cora made Mulan freeze in place and went charging up to her, thrusting her hand right into her chest and grabbing a hold of Mulan's heart. It was Snow now who had come to Mulan's rescue with a dagger in hand and pressed up against Cora's throat now.

"Let her go or I will kill you right now myself." Snow said in such a harsh tone that Killian almost had to look twice to be sure that it was in fact Snow threatening Cora.

"Perhaps another time then." Cora said and before Snow could even move the dagger, Cora had disappeared into thin air and Mulan collapsed to the ground, clutching her chest and taking deep breaths.

Killian rose to his feet, the compass in hand, and he saw that over by the campfire, Aurora was kneeling next to Emma now, trying to shake her awake.

"Emma? Emma, wake up!" Aurora said, then pressed her ear to Emma's chest to see if her heart was still beating. "Snow!" Aurora called out as panic began to set in.

Snow ran over to Aurora and Emma without a second thought, Killian wanted to do the same but seeing Mulan fighting to stand up to race over to the group as well, he offered the warrior a helping hand to stand up, and she took it reluctantly. When Killian and Mulan reached the others, Snow was checking for a heartbeat now as well, just as Aurora had been.

"She's breathing but she won't wake up," Aurora said to Snow, desperately. "I-I don't know what to do."

"There's nothing we can do, she has to wake up on her own." Mulan said. "She was thrown back pretty hard, it's most likely a concussion."

"I don't know what to tell her when she wakes up," Snow said in a defeated tone. "Cora has the compass and is probably on her way to Henry and Storybrooke right now. We may never see him, or Charming, or anyone in Storybrooke ever again."

"I wouldn't lose that hope just yet." Killian said as he held out the compass to Snow. "She dropped this right after Mulan knocked her down."

"The compass…"Snow said, shocked as she took the compass from Killian. Her entire attitude seemed to shift into a much happier mood as she held the compass in one hand and Emma's hand in the other. "We still have a chance."

"We just need to get the ashes from Cora now." Mulan said. "You must know where she's hiding them?" She asked Killian.

"Sorry to disappoint ladies, but I don't. She didn't exactly hand them over to me on a silver platter or give me a map to show me where they were. However, we don't even need them anymore." Killian said.

"What do you mean?" Aurora asked now, just as confused as the others.

"In my short time stuck with Cora again, I overheard her talking to one of her many other friends that are still here, they were talking about a mirror. One in the Evil Queen's Castle that her daughter used on her." Killian said. "She was talking about using the mirror as a portal to Storybrooke. She was planning on using the ashes with the compass, but from what I heard, fairy dust will work too."

"Just where do you plan on getting fairy dust?" Snow asked.

"Well, it's the Evil Queen's castle, I imagine she must have some of it still laying around somewhere." Killian said. "It's worth a shot, or do any one of you lovelies feel like getting your heart ripped out instead?" He asked, everyone was silent. "Thought so. Now, I can't imagine Emma will be thrilled to wake up in a pile of ashes, we should probably move her."

* * *

By the time Emma became conscious again, she didn't have the strength just yet to open up her eyes, but she could feel something touching her hand. At first she panicked thinking that maybe it was some animal from the forest deciding to pay her a visit, but then she realized that it was someone else's hand on her own, unraveling something. Her eyes cracked open and she saw that it was Hook, taking the scarf he had originally put around her hand off now. Part of her wanted to wake up and stop him, but she decided against it and just waited, pretending to still be unconscious. Emma watched as he fully unraveled the scarf and looked at the wound on her hand, it was barely visible anymore except for the faint red line that was still there. She felt Killian's thumb trace over the cut and for a moment, it felt comforting. _Wait, what I am even thinking_? Emma thought as she opened her eyes now, but Killian still didn't seem to notice until she pulled her hand away.

"What are you doing?" Emma asked as she sat upright now and kept her eyes on Killian.

"Ah, so the princess awakens from her slumber." Killian said as that smirk of his returned.

"Don't call me that." Emma grumbled and rubbed the back of her head, feeling where a bump had formed after being knocked out.

"As you wish, princess." Killian said while Emma rolled her eyes at him. "The cut is all healed up I see." He added.

"Yeah, I guess." Emma said looked at her hand now, her hand felt like it was almost missing something now without the scarf around it. _Focus, Emma._ She told herself. "Where's Mary Margret?" She asked.

"She went off with the other one there to go hunting or something like that. She really didn't want to leave you alone here with me, but I can't imagine why." Killian smiled.

"Wait, what about Cora and the compass?" Emma asked, the panic finally returning to her now.

"Relax, love." Killian said and took the compass out of his pocket and handed it over to Emma with his hooked hand. "There it is, safe and sound." He said while he watched Emma hold onto the compass as if it was her life line, and deep down he knew that it was the only thing that could take her back to her son. "You might want to have your mother tell you about the new plan then later." Killian said while rising to his feet and held his hand out to Emma who looked at him puzzled. "You have a giant lump on the back of your head lass, you might not want to go back to sleep anytime soon."

Emma knew he was right and grabbed his hand, heaving herself up off of the ground and rubbing the back of her head once she was on her feet. She knew she would somehow have to keep herself awake that whole night just to be sure now that she was actually okay. She saw Hook pick up his scarf and he seemed to be debating between just leaving it there or handing it back to Emma, however neither or which happened since before the two could say another word, Emma heard Snow and Mulan coming back from the woods. She quickly let go of Hook's hand that she hadn't realized she was still holding and went to ask Snow what this new plan was that Hook had been talking about.

* * *

**Note:** First of all I wanted to thank all of you for all the reviews again, they made my day :3 I also really wanted to thank _JustWriter2_ for sharing that funny little part with me, it did make me laugh, and _LiterarySiren_ for the advice about getting them back to Storybrooke. Because of that I remembered Regina's mirror that was on earlier in the season and decided that maybe that could work to get them back home! Also I have no idea if Hook knew Henry's name or not, but I just kinda assumed he didn't and went with that to pick out Cora (again). Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter!


	4. Chapter Four

The group had been traveling for a couple of days now, with Mulan and Mary Margret leading the way to Regina's old Castle. Emma had her doubts that the plan of taking a magic mirror back to Storybrooke was going to work, especially if Cora knew about it and she hasn't shown up since she nearly got away with the compass, but she would try just about anything at this point to be able to get back to Henry and the rest of Storybrooke. Even if it meant dealing with the charismatic and annoying pirate captain for a little longer than she would have hoped.

"How much longer until we reach this castle?" Emma asked, she was about ready to just sit down right then and there after walking the entire day again even though she didn't want to admit how truly tired she was.

"Actually…we're here." Mary Margret said just as they reached the edge of the woods they had been walking through for days where the castle had come into view.

Regina's castle looked perfectly untouched compared to the rest of the land that Emma had seen, including her family's castle which was practically in ruins. Emma started to notice some of the similarities now between Regina's castle and the playground that she had built in the woods after the old wooden playground was torn down after that awful storm. Despite the twenty-seven years that the palace had been abandoned, the castle still seemed to shine brightly in the sunlight. Emma also noticed how out of place the castle felt here in the Enchanted Forest, while there used to be small villages and towering stone castles, Regina's castle made out of metal and glass stuck out like a sore thumb against the forest covered mountain side, but the castle itself matched Regina perfectly. In fact, Emma couldn't really imagine Regina living in any other place after seeing this.

"I haven't seen this place in ages." Mary Margret said to herself, just above a whisper. Judging from the look in her eyes that Emma noticed, the castle didn't always look so…well, evil. "If we keep going, we might be able to reach the castle by sunset." Mary Margret said aloud now.

"Yes, and walk right into what is probably another one of Cora's traps." Hook finally spoke up. "Do you really think she's just going to let us waltz right up there through the front door without putting up some kind of fight? She's probably been waiting for us for days now."

"He's right." Mulan admitted. "We're going to have to find another way in, some way that Cora won't notice."

"There were the tunnels underground, that was back when it was my father's castle though, I have no idea if Regina filled them in or if she even knew they were there in the first place. They were put there in case of an emergency if we had to get out of the castle unnoticed." Mary Margret said. "If they are still there, the exit is not too far away from here."

"Would Cora know about them?" Mulan asked.

"Cora knows about everything here lass," Hook said. "But if they're supposed to be secret tunnels than it might take her a little longer to realize what we're doing."

"If it's the only chance we have of getting back home then I say we do it." Emma said. "Where is the tunnels entrance in the castle?" Emma asked Mary Margret.

"In the throne room, it's the only entrance to them." Mary Margret said. "Did Cora say where the mirror was in the castle to this supposed friend of hers?"

"In the Queen's Chamber." Hook said.

"We're going to have to go up a couple flights of stairs, we'll be noticed once we're in the castle, who knows what she has waiting for us." Mary Margret said.

"We'll just have to fight then," Emma said. "There's no way around it. It's the only way back to Henry and David that we have." She said to Mary Margret now.

"I knew there was a reason I liked you Swan, you love a good fight, don't you?" He asked with a smirk and Emma rolled her eyes at him.

"Let's just go in there and get this fight over with." Emma said and followed Mary Margret who was already leading the way to the secret tunnels exit.

* * *

Meanwhile inside Regina's castle, Cora was pacing back and forth in Regina's chamber with the ashes from the burned wardrobe in her hand, she was waiting for her newest accomplice to report to her that every entrance to the castle had been guarded by his "pets" that will warn him if someone enters. She had her doubts about recruiting him, especially after her partnership with Hook did not end the way she planned and he ended up joining the group of women, all because he was tailing around that blonde one worse than a puppy. Love, or whatever Hook felt for Emma, had made him weak in Cora's eyes, she knew he was useless to her the moment she found him in the forest after escaping the giant's castle, but she also knew she couldn't get to Storybrooke by herself. Even her powers were too weak to get the kind of magic she needed to make a portal. Cora heard footsteps approaching and her attention was directed towards the open door where her newest partner stood, a tall and thin man who was dressed in an array of brightly colored clothes with an equally bright hat that had a long feather in it and holding a golden pipe, he was the Pied Piper.

"Have your _pets _found all of the entrances?" Cora asked with some venom obvious in her tone.

"Yes, they have." He smiled. "I can see that your not a big fan of rats, are you?" He asked amused.

"They're not my favorite creature. They belong in sewers or in small villages, not in castles." Cora said.

"Ah, but these are not ordinary rats. They listen to me and the music that comes from my pipe. They don't eat or sleep unless I say so." He said confidently.

"And these rats of yours, they'll let you know if anyone tries to enter the castle?" She asked.

"They are my loyal rats, they have not let me down yet. If I told them to go find a golden goose egg, they wouldn't dream of returning until they had one for me." He said.

"Good. Let's keep it that way." Cora said and turned to face the shattered mirror that sat on the wall in Regina's chamber. Despite the fact that the mirror was of no use now or since her daughter pushed her through it, Regina still chose to display the mirror even if it was useless for now. "As soon as we get that compass, we're going to pay the people of Storybrooke a visit."

* * *

Mary Margret and Mulan both heaved the large wooden door open that was practically a part of the ground now as grass and vines had grown over it. Once the door landed on the ground, just a few inches away from smashing their toes, a puff of dust and dirt drifted up into the air, nearly choking everyone standing around the door. Emma saw an old set of stairs that were carved out of the ground itself that led down into the tunnel, and judging from the cobwebs that were on them, she knew no one had been in these tunnels for years.

"Everybody stay close, the tunnels are kinda narrow if I remember right." Mary Margret said as she traveled in first, followed by Mulan, Aurora, Emma, and Hook.

"Do you have to be so close?" Emma hissed to Hook as she noticed that she could practically feel the warmth radiating off of him from behind her.

"Narrow caves love." Hook smiled. "But something tells me you really don't mind it all that much do you?" He asked and Emma could hear the smirk in his voice. If she could have reached back to punch him in the jaw, she would have by now.

As soon as they passed the first torch that was in the caves, it lit up by itself, illuminating the dark and dusty tunnel they were walking through so they could see where they were going.

"Regina must have enchanted them. She knew about the tunnels." Mary Margret sighed now.

"Just because she knew of them doesn't mean Cora does, right?" Aurora asked.

All Mary Margret could do was shrug in return, if Cora did know about the tunnels, they were in for a lot more trouble than she originally thought. The tunnels went of for twists and turns, steadily going up along with the mountain that was on the outside, and torch after torch was lighting up as they passed it. Mary Margret was sure they were almost halfway there since the tunnels started to widen now, when Aurora stopped dead in her tracks making Emma stop suddenly and Hook almost falling right on top of her.

"Aurora, what's wrong?" Mary Margret asked confused.

"Don't you hear that?" Aurora asked.

"Hear what?" Emma asked now as she pushed Hook off of her.

"That music." She said and started to move ahead of the group in a trance-like state. "That _wonderful_ music." She said dreamily as she walked through the dark tunnels ahead of them.

The group quickly followed her and when Mulan saw the trap that was set, she grabbed Aurora and her force seem to knock Aurora out of her trance.

"What happened?" Aurora asked confused as she looked down at the ground and screamed at the sight of the small army of rats that were sleeping on the ground in a line in front of her. Mulan quickly covered her moth to keep her screams from disturbing the rats.

"It's a trap." Mulan said.

"That's not one of Cora's traps." Mary Margret said and kneeled down in front of the rats as Emma slowly backed away from the.

"What's the matter Emma? Scared of a couple of rats?" Hook asked amused that for the first time, he saw Emma show a little bit of fear.

"Those aren't rats, those are giant mutant rats." She said, suddenly stopping when she felt herself back right into Hook.

"Their the Pied Piper's rats." Mary Margret said as she rose to her feet. "That must be who you heard talking to Cora, he's working with her."

"The Pied Piper?" Emma asked. "As in the guy who took a whole village of children and trapped them in a cave to die?"

"I'm impressed, that's the first story you've got right lass." Hook said.

"How are we supposed to get past…those things?" Emma asked and pointed at the rats with a disgusted look on her face.

"Quietly, I guess." Mary Margret said as she carefully stepped over the large line of rats and waited to see if any of them would stir from their slumber, nothing happened. "Come on, let's go before something wakes them." She whispered.

* * *

**Note:** First of all, I really wanna thank LiterarySiren for the idea of the Pied Piper, I never would have thought about bringing in another fairy tale character! And of course thank you so much to everyone else for all the reviews, favorites, and follows! So they're finally on their way into Regina's castle, I would have posted this chapter sooner but I've been so busy getting ready for Thanksgiving this week that I totally forgot about it. At least there's a new OUAT this Sunday, I missed it last week. I plan on posting the next chapter much sooner and maybe they just might get back to Storybrooke...if they can face the Pied Piper, his rats, and Cora first of course. Maybe Hook will protect Emma from the big bad rats? ;) xoxo


End file.
